Avocets Resting in the Sunset
by Michele Penner
Title
Avocets Resting in the Sunset
Artist
Michele Penner
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
American Avocets resting along the shore of Lake Abert in southeastern Oregon during a lavender sunset.
Article about Lake Abert by Rob Davis, The Oregonian, July 03, 2014:
It's an environmental mystery: A 64-square-mile lake is drying up, and no one knows exactly why.
Lake Abert, a remote saltwater lake in Oregon's high desert, is disappearing, killing one of the only creatures hearty enough to tolerate its severely salty water, the tiny brine shrimp.
Why is Lake Abert disappearing? Worried scientists say drought doesn't explain it. They think area ranches and a state-funded fish restoration project may be responsible. They sought state help to study the lake, only to be turned away.
The scientists contend the isolated lake, 30 miles from the closest city, has been forgotten, or purposely ignored, by state officials hoping to avoid another fight like the decades-long conflict over scarce water two hours west in the Klamath Basin.
The saltwater lake has dropped to a low not seen since the Dust Bowl years of the 1930's, killing brine shrimp, forcing migratory birds to find another stop and exposing the lake bed's alkali dust, a pollution source, to the dry gusts that sweep through the Great Basin.
As the lake declines, the scientists fear that Lake Abert will completely dry up without anyone helping.
Read our in-depth investigation to learn more about what's happening at Lake Abert -- and about the roadblocks the scientists say the state has put up.
Many thanks to the following groups for featuring this image:
All Fine Art America Artwork
The World We See
Pleasing the Eye
Loving the Colors Purple and Pink
Uploaded
May 30th, 2014
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